


Cut One, and the Other Bleeds

by Jackjunkie



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Action/Adventure, Gen, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-22
Updated: 2012-09-22
Packaged: 2017-11-14 19:11:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,956
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/518568
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jackjunkie/pseuds/Jackjunkie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Drugged, kidnapped, and experimented on by aliens - it's another bad day for Jack and Daniel.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Cut One, and the Other Bleeds

**Author's Note:**

> Originally published in the zine Foundations 2.

Jack shook his head groggily, trying to disperse the tendrils of fog clinging to his brain. What was going on? He couldn’t think straight, his mind like a rusty machine unable to click into gear.

He pushed himself to his knees on the cold tile floor. Okay, that meant he was indoors. Now if only he could remember where…

His hand closed around the handle of his knife as he heard a deep, throaty growl. This couldn’t be good.

Turning his head slowly, he looked across the small, bare room to the occupant on the other side.

A bearlike beast returned his stare from baleful yellow eyes. It was not precisely a bear, being somewhat smaller and leaner but with a full, deadly looking complement of sharp teeth and claws. Matted reddish fur covered its compact body.

“Easy, boy.” Jack carefully rose to his feet and chanced a look around. The room was empty except for him and the creature. He didn’t know how he’d gotten into this situation, but at least he had a weapon. Reaching instinctively for his sidearm, he realized it was gone. Whoever had put him here had left him only the knife. He’d been stripped of his vest and equipment and was dressed only in his tee-shirt, fatigue pants, and boots.

Facing the bear creature, Jack waited. “Wouldn’t de-clawing you be less extreme than getting rid of all the furniture?”

A low rumble disputed his observation.

“Then again, maybe not.”

Jack tried to relax his stance, knees bent and loose, arms out from his sides ready to strike. Funny, his knees didn’t feel as stiff as they usually did these days. Adrenaline must be washing that away. In fact, he felt looser and better overall than he could remember for a long time.

“I suppose it’s too much to hope you’re on a colonel-free diet.” He hazarded looking away from the animal to sweep the room for any sign of an exit. All he saw was the outline of a door at the bear’s back. Great, he could rule that out, unless he managed to get the animal to move away from it.

Jack began to circle the room to the side to see if the creature would follow. It took a step, mirroring him.

“That’s right, Yogi. This way to the picnic baskets.” Jack allowed himself to feel a glimmer of hope that he might get out of this one.

Without warning, the beast charged.

Diving, Jack rolled out of its way, slamming into the wall before bounding back to his feet. He whirled to face the animal once more.

With an angry snarl, it leaped at him again.

This time Jack stabbed out with the knife, slashing towards the throat, but the creature had a longer reach. Claws raked Jack’s arm, spinning him away. He braced himself for the fiery pain he was sure would follow but surprisingly felt nothing. Glancing down he saw red marks across his bare forearm fading even as he watched. Before he had time to consider it, he sensed the animal lunge again and jumped out of the way.

A paw knocked against his boot, throwing him off balance. He landed awkwardly, twisting his foot under him. _Tag, I’m it._ Cautiously he tested his weight, relieved to feel his ankle steady and pain free. Straightening effortlessly he ran along the wall towards the door.

Before he could reach his target, the animal sprang at him again. Jack sliced the knife across the extended foreleg, drawing blood, then plunged it upward, missing the throat but burying it in the animal’s shoulder. The bear beast pulled back with a roar of pain, biting at the hilt sticking out of its body.

The momentary withdrawal gave Jack time to reach the door. Great, no knob. How the hell did it open? Fumbling frantically around the edges he could barely see in the wall, he slid his fingers across some type of control button. The door began to slide open. _C’mon, open sesame!_

Jack could feel hot breath whuffing across the back of his neck as the opening finally grew wide enough for him to squeeze through just as powerful teeth ripped a piece out of his pants leg. The door closed behind him, shutting out the attacking beast.

_Piece o’ cake._

Panting heavily, Jack looked down to assess the damage. Through the tear in his pants, he saw a few droplets of blood drying as a gouge in his leg knit together before his eyes. His skin was smooth and unblemished. He was completely unhurt.

_Now that’s weird._

***

Daniel blearily blinked the last wisps of sleep from his eyes. He was lying in a small bed, and his first thought was a familiar one: _infirmary?_ Fingers reached out of their own accord, fumbling at a bedside stand and closed over a well-known shape. Fitting on his glasses, he peered around the small room. No, not the infirmary. Then where?

He was alone. There was no sign of his friends or anyone else. The bed and stand were the only furnishings in the stark interior. The door across from him had no knob, but a button was set into the wall next to it.

His hand brushed across the smooth surface of the thin spread overlaying the sheet, a rainbow sheen of colors shimmering in the metallic threads. Pushing back the coverings, Daniel sat up. He was dressed in his tee-shirt and pants, but his vest and equipment were nowhere in sight. His boots were set neatly on the floor by the bed.

As he swung his legs over the side, a twinge of pain in his left knee drew his attention to the stiffness in both joints. In fact, he seemed to be a little stiff and achy all over. With a grunt, he leaned down to pull on his boots, wondering if he was coming down with the flu. A sudden kink in his back caused him to drop the shoes and straighten, arching his spine and rolling his shoulders. He didn’t remember any recent activity that would account for the soreness. He paused in the act of stretching.

What did he remember?

A jumble of images played like a confusing slideshow across his mind. Before he could make sense of them, he was struck by a wall of pain slamming into his shoulder and side down to his hip. He gasped from the impact, pulling his arms instinctively into a protective posture, then looked around in bewilderment. If he didn’t know better, he’d say he’d been hit by something very large and very solid, but there was nothing there – at least nothing visible.

“Hello?” With deliberate caution, he lifted an arm and waved it back and forth, feeling the empty air. “Is something there?”

_Good choice of words, Jackson._ If someone were present, Daniel thought he should be able to sense them, but then again, if they were alien enough, perhaps not. His rambling thoughts were abruptly interrupted. He snatched his arm back as hot pain raked across the exposed skin, penetrating to the sensitive tissue beneath.

“Aagh!” He looked down and was shocked to see four deep, bleeding scratches striping the inside of his arm. “How the hell…?”

Daniel stared transfixed as the blood welled up and dripped onto the bed. The sight of the bright red stain snapped him out of his immobility. He grabbed the edge of the sheet and attempted to stanch the blood. Gritting his teeth against the throbbing pain, he concentrated on the first aid. It was a little tricky to manage one-handed. He needed a proper bandage. Even better would be someone to help him. _Time to see if anyone’s home here… wherever here is._

He stood up, but at the first step his right foot buckled under him, unable to support his weight. His good arm scrabbled at the bed to break his fall as he tumbled to the floor. Groaning at the growing collection of bruises on his sore body, he slowly untangled himself and sat up. Gingerly he flexed his tender ankle. It didn’t look swollen. Perhaps he’d just lost his balance getting out of bed and twisted it.

“Hey! Can anybody hear me? I need a little help here.”

Receiving no answer, Daniel used the bed to pull himself upright. If help wouldn’t come to him, he’d just have to go get some. He took a tentative step. The ankle hurt but not unbearably. He began to limp towards the door.

Halfway across the room, fire lanced through his other leg. Collapsing with a gasp, he rode out the spasm of agony.

“God!” He pounded a fist into the floor as he tried to catch his breath. When he looked down, he saw blood staining his pants leg. Carefully pulling it up, he beheld a fresh set of bloody gashes on his calf, deeper than the ones on his arm. _What’s going on here?_

“Jack! Sam, Teal’c?”

The names faded into a silence chilling him as it crystallized almost tangibly around his isolation. No one answered his cries.

***

“The procedure appears to be working.”

“From what we have observed so far, but it is still too soon to be sure. We need more data.”

“We will continue with the testing. It is unfortunate the other subjects were not suitable.”

“Yes, the physiology of the being with the pouch is too alien for our purposes while the blood of the female contains an unknown substance which interferes with the alteration.”

“Then we must make do with two subjects only. We will proceed to the next step.”

“Agreed.”

***

Jack surveyed the terrain with an appraising eye. It looked like he’d exited the back of the building and was facing vacant swampland leading off to the cliffs in the distance. He must be at the edge of the city.

Frowning, Jack thought past the fuzziness still straggling through his brain. Events were coming back to him in bits and pieces.

SG-1 had arrived through the gate on P5R-whatsit and hiked to a community at the base of the cliffs he was looking at now. The inhabitants, called the Rassan, were surprised at their arrival. Explaining they were unused to seeing travelers, they politely welcomed the off world explorers despite an air of wariness. Human with no history of Goa’uld visitations – plausible, especially since this gate address was from the Ancients and not from the Abydos cartouche – their society appeared at a technological level a little more advanced than Earth’s.

One of the local officials named Artur had volunteered to be their guide – or their watchdog, Jack had speculated – and had begun the tour by offering them the hospitality of his home. Jack recalled all of his team sampling a variety of unusual foodstuffs and not much of anything after that, until waking up with his furry, fanged roommate.

They had to have been drugged. Why? Where was his team now? And what was the point of his little up close and personal view of the local wild kingdom?

Well, first things first. He’d work on the why’s after he’d settled the where. He’d lay pretty good odds the others were being held in the building behind him. The door at his back was a dandy route to bear wrestling, but since his name wasn’t Daniel Boone, he’d have to find another way in. Damned if he’d let their own Daniel be forced to reenact that namesake’s battle, or let any of his team face danger without him, bear or no bear. Blinking away a sudden image of Teal’c in a coonskin cap, Jack examined his surroundings.

Pools of grainy mud lay on either side of him along the building’s edge. Stooping, Jack dipped two fingers in the murky glop and rubbed it with his thumb. He’d seen quicksand before, and this had all the earmarks. No point taking any chances. He could follow the path winding ahead through the swamp until he reached that stretch of dry land beyond, then circle around to the front of the building. Wiping his hand on his pants, he stood and began to stride forward, placing his feet carefully and sweeping his gaze around the landscape.

He was nearly halfway across when the first shot sizzled past the nape of his neck. He dropped flat, clapping a hand back to check for singed hair. It had looked like some type of energy bolt, similar to a staff weapon blast. Jack raised his head cautiously seeking the source of the shooting.

“Ack!”

A second bolt bombarded the dirt in front of his face, causing him to duck back down, arms flung over his head for what minimal protection they provided.

Okay, assessment time. Lying out in the open exposed like this, not a good idea. Going back, either quicksand or a door to a wounded wild animal. Which left going forward into apparently lethal energy fire.

Peachy.

With a roar, Jack surged forward into a crouching run, keeping low to the ground. Maybe he could startle them or outrun them or… shit! Fire streaked all around him. The glare was blinding.

Zigzagging to avoid the bolts, he could swear some found targets – a leg, his back, a shoulder – but he felt nothing. He had to get off this deadly obstacle course. Scanning the marshy land to either side of the path, he spotted a low hillock and dove for it like a runner for third base.

_Safe!_

Resting behind its meager shelter, he dragged air into heaving lungs. Now what? This time-out couldn’t last… could it? A bolt taking off the top of the mound he hid behind made him jump and answered his question. This place wouldn’t stay secure for long.

He quickly took stock of himself. There were scorch marks across his clothes in the places he thought he’d been hit but no matching wounds on his flesh. So the weapons fire wasn’t hurting him any more than the animal attack had. Did that mean he could just get up and stroll right through it? Maybe, but it could as easily mean he was being lured into some kind of trap. What if the energy blasts affected him as soon as he stopped distrusting them?

Jack didn’t have a clue what was going on, but playing along with the game didn’t sit right with him. He’d make his own rules. There had to be a way he could escape on his own terms. Another bolt struck his hiding place and spat a shower of dirt across him, urging him to hurry.

This land was too flat and open to provide good cover. Away from the path, the swamp appeared treacherous. Or were appearances deceiving? In this area, the pools looked more like dirty water than quicksand. Only one way to find out for sure.

Before he could think twice – generally a dangerous practice in Jack’s experience – he scooted out from behind his small embankment over to the water’s edge and splashed in just ahead of the renewed shooting. Taking three deep breaths to inflate his lungs, he sank beneath the surface.

Energy bolts pinged into the water and sputtered above his head. It was much deeper than he’d expected, with a steep drop-off rather than a gradual slope. Jack clung to the muddy side of the pool, twining one hand into the weeds growing there to keep from drifting.

Weapons blasts continued to churn up the water behind him. He really didn’t want to think about that frying pan into the fire cliché right now. Concentrating on holding his breath, Jack realized it should’ve begun to bother him by now. Instead of his lungs bursting or his head swimming, he actually felt fairly comfortable. If this was another effect of whatever weird stuff was happening to him, maybe he could outlast the attack after all.

Jack hung on and floated.

***

_Hang on. Got to hang on._ Daniel moaned and leaned his forehead against the door. He’d lost track of how long he’d been sitting on the floor. _They’re bound to find me sometime, and I’ve got to still be… here when they do. They wouldn’t leave without me. Jack would never leave anyone behind._

Weakly he lifted a hand and rapped once more on the solid panel. He yelled again, calling for help as he’d already done so many times. He didn’t know if he could be heard beyond this room, but he had to keep trying. If his friends hadn’t come to his aid, then they might need help. They could be suffering as he was and hoping for a rescue. Daniel had to get out and find them, but the door control had defied all his attempts to make it work. Unless someone opened the door from the other side, he was trapped here.

At least he’d managed to stop the bleeding with bandages he’d fashioned from the sheets. Now all he had to contend with was the constant pain pulsing through his leg. Hey, it had totally distracted him from his hurt arm and ankle. He laughed a little wildly, wondering if Janet knew about this miracle cure. All you needed was a new injury worse than the previous ones.

A sudden flare of pain across his neck made him flinch. What the- ?

“Ow!” Clutching his thigh, he rocked back. No sooner had he lain down than he arched up, his back screaming a protest in hot anguish. His shoulder was next as, horrified, he watched blood seeping through his tee-shirt accompanied by the stench of burning flesh. He felt betrayed by his own body, erupting in wounds without rhyme or reason. He could almost believe he was spontaneously combusting, but that was insane. Wasn’t it?

_God, make it stop. Please make it stop._

His groans were cut short as he began to choke. Straining lungs couldn’t seem to pull in enough air. Vision blurred as a black fog began to mist out his surroundings.

_No, not… like that. Didn’t mean… stop… help… Jack._

***

“Allowing the subject to perish will not serve the test.”

“We did not foresee such extreme results. The warrior’s behavior is most unexpected.”

“Our understanding of his kind is sparse but will increase with observation. The knowledge will prove useful for our purpose.”

“We will resuscitate the injured one.”

“What of the warrior?”

“He is secure. We will attend to him once we have repaired the other’s damage and are ready to continue.”

***

The splash and hiss of shots into the water ceased. Either they thought they’d gotten him or they’d given up. Either way worked for Jack. Of course they could be waiting to ambush him as soon as he poked his head above water. Looked like he had a two out of three chance – he’d beaten worse odds plenty of times. In any case, he couldn’t stay down here any longer.

Feeling his way up the bank, he rose and broke the surface. The way he immediately gulped great lungfuls of air made him realize how much he needed it despite not feeling physical pressure from the lack while below.

Treading water, he waited for any reaction to his reappearance. When all remained quiet, he climbed out of the pool and lay on the solid ground for a moment while his breathing calmed to normal. Still the shooting did not resume. With increasing confidence, Jack got to his feet and walked the remaining distance to the far side of the swamp.

_Sure is nice to have things work out the easy way for a change,_ he thought just before he collided with an invisible barrier and rebounded, landing hard on his rump.

_Or not._ With a resigned sigh, he stood up and ran his hand along the smooth surface facing him. Force field? His fingers encountered a raised object, and he pressed.

An opening in the scenery slid aside, revealing a small room beyond. Not a force field then. It must be a projection of some kind. What looked like a panorama of far off cliffs was merely a very realistic image on a wall. He’d never really left the building at all. He was still indoors or perhaps in an enclosed courtyard. Well, whatever it was, hanging around wouldn’t get him any closer to his missing team. He stepped forward, and the door closed behind him, shutting out the view of the swamp.

A cursory glance told him the room was some kind of gym. Mats covered the floor, and various pieces of what appeared to be fitness equipment lined the walls. Ignoring them, Jack strode immediately toward the opposite door. This time pushing the control had no effect. It must be locked somehow. Returning to the door he’d entered, he worked that button with no problem. So he was only barred from going forward. He could go back – _no use._ He could stay here – _fat chance._ Or…

Spying a pile of cloths on a rack in a corner, he toweled himself dry as best he could, then began inspecting the equipment. Most of it seemed to have similar training uses to what he was familiar with. The one that most intrigued him was some type of weight bar. When he lightly pulled it towards him, it pulled back just as lightly, but when he gave it a harder yank, it tugged back with exceptional resistance. Yet when he slid it out of its socket, it balanced easily in his hand.

He was sure Carter could give him a theory about its power source operating on an inverse proportion to the force applied, but right now he only cared if he could jimmy the door with this high-tech crowbar. Fitting the end of it against the doorframe, he wedged the tip into the small space between the door and wall, then applied pressure against the angle of the jamb. The bar responded as he’d hoped, pressing into the seal with the amplified force. With a squeal the mechanism gave way, and the door opened. “There’s always an or.”

Briefly Jack contemplated the tool’s usefulness as a weapon, but decided the reverse force would act against him in a fight. Tossing it back into the gym, he slipped into the empty corridor and choosing a direction at random, began to walk. He didn’t know where to look for his team, so he’d just have to see what turned up.

The building was extensive with lots of hallways and doors. At least it afforded plenty of places to avoid detection whenever Jack heard anyone approaching. Getting nowhere was making him wonder if he needed a new plan when he heard footsteps again, this time accompanied by the sound of rolling wheels. Falling back, he peered carefully around a corner.

A man, dressed in the simple pastel-colored tunic and loose pants popular among the natives, rolled a gurney up to a nearby door and stopped. _Paydirt!_ Lying on the stretcher was a sleeping Daniel.

As the man punched the door button, Jack acted swiftly. Sneaking up behind the man, he snaked an arm around his throat and choked off his air supply, causing him to black out. After depositing him in the now open doorway, Jack turned to the gurney.

“Daniel. Hey, Daniel, wake up.” Gently he laid his hand on his friend’s shoulder.

At the touch, Daniel turned his head on the pillow and blinked open dazed blue eyes. Squinting through his glasses, he squeezed his eyes shut again, then opened them wide. “J-Jack? What¬? Where- ?”

“Shh, Daniel, we’ll do Twenty Questions later. First let’s find Carter and Teal’c and get outta here. Can you get up?”

Blearily Daniel raised a hand to his head while Jack helped him sit up. “Yeah, sure. I’m fine.” He swung his legs over the side of the stretcher and got shakily to his feet. He took a careful step, then paused, casting a look down the length of his body. Surprise flashed across his features, and he raised an arm, stroking a finger across it in wonder. “I really am fine.”

Standing ready to help if needed, Jack watched him in concern. “That’s good, Daniel, but why are you acting like it’s news?”

“Well, I wasn’t exactly…” He waved a hand, searching for a word.

“Fine?”

“Fine, last time I checked. In fact, I’d say my condition was bad.”

“Bad. How?” Anxiously Jack looked him over, searching for some sign as to what might be wrong.

“Jack, some very strange things have been happening here.” Daniel walked through the open door into the room.

“Tell me about it.” Jack followed him inside, pushing the gurney to get it out of the hallway. “And you’re going the wrong way. This is in. We want out.”

Daniel wiggled his toes. “I can’t do a search and rescue in my bare feet. Give me a minute to put my boots on.”

Jack rolled his eyes. “For cryin’ out loud, a crisis is no time to make a fashion statement.”

Without answering Daniel sat down and pulled on his socks. “They must have patched me up. Probably bringing me back from surgery.”

“Surgery?” The word notched Jack’s anxiety up to alarm level. “What happened?” Daniel was in bad enough shape to need an operation, they didn’t know what condition Teal’c and Carter were in – God, he was doing a lousy job of taking care of his kids.

“I was wounded. I think I passed out.”

“Wounded, how?” Jack sat on the bed next to Daniel.

“That’s just it; I don’t know.” Daniel held out his arm and pointed to the unmarked skin. “I had some deep scratches here; they were bleeding. And some even worse cuts on my leg. One minute I was fine, and the next they just appeared for no reason.”

Jack frowned, unease roiling through his gut. “I’m pretty sure they drugged us. Maybe you can’t remember.”

“No, you’re probably right about the drugging, but I woke up here okay.” Daniel chewed on his lower lip. “Well, mostly okay anyhow. I was stiff and achy, thought I might be coming down with flu or something. Things went downhill pretty fast after that. I felt something hit me, but there was nothing there. It was awfully substantial for a hallucination. Then the cuts popped up, and I wasn’t just seeing things, I… I could f-feel them, and the b-blood...”

“Hey.” Jack rubbed Daniel’s shoulder. “Easy.” Whenever Daniel started tripping over his words, it meant he was trying to process either too much information or emotion. Jack figured it was a little of both here. Dammit, what kind of sick game were these s.o.b.’s playing with his team?

Daniel was staring very intently at his boot as he twisted and pulled at the leather. “Ah, what else? Let’s see, my ankle got twisted somehow, and I was burned several times… here and here and here."

“And the neck?” Jack wasn’t sure he liked the implications of the suspicion he was forming. No, scratch that. He was sure. He didn’t like them at all.

“That’s right, my neck, too. It was… bad.” Daniel rubbed the back of his neck, a pinched look between his brows.

Jack just bet it was bad. For Daniel to admit that much, it must have been very bad. And Jack had firsthand experience of the causes; he just couldn’t wrap his mind around how.

Daniel pushed his foot into his boot and picked up the other. “Then I had trouble breathing. My lungs didn’t seem to want to work. My, uh, vision started to fade, and I must’ve passed out.” He finished tying his laces. “Someone fixed me up as good as new. You’d never know I was hurt. Their medical technology must be amazing.”

“Ya think?” Jack took a breath and let it out slowly. “Daniel, I was hurt, too – or, I should’ve been. I got clawed and bitten by an animal, shot at with some kind of energy weapon, and I got clean away none the worse for wear. Sounds to me like we were given opposite sides of the same coin.”

Daniel stared at him. Jack watched the changing expressions flit across his face as he processed what he’d been told.

“What, are you saying you were attacked, and somehow that hurt me? Jack, that doesn’t make any sense.”

“No, it doesn’t. But I took a hit every place you described. The same type of injury in the exact same location, only none of it had any effect on me. Everything healed instantly.”

“That’s crazy.” Daniel gave a shaky laugh. “What’d they do, turn me into your living picture of Dorian Grey?”

“I know that story. Guy never grew old, but his portrait looked worse than Apophis after Sokar finished with him.”

“That’s the one, but it’s fiction. How could they make it happen for real?”

“That’s a question for Carter.”

“Omigod, Sam! And Teal’c. They could be going through the same thing.” Daniel jumped up and immediately winced.

“What’s wrong?” Jack reached out a hand to steady him.

“Nothing, just my knees. Or rather…” Daniel’s eyes widened in understanding. “ **Your** knees. These must be your aches and pains I’m feeling. God, it **is** true.”

“Don’t worry. We’ll spring Carter and Teal’c, Carter can figure out what they did to us, and she and Fraiser will undo it. They’ll have you back on your own feet in no time.”

“What if they can’t?”

Despite the faith Jack had in his people’s abilities, he conceded the possibility this might be beyond them. “Then we’ll make the Raisins do it.”

“Rassan.”

“Whatever.” Jack waved a hand in dismissal as he dragged the unconscious man who’d been functioning as a doorstop inside the room and left him on the floor.

The door slid shut behind them as they stepped back out into the corridor.

Daniel looked left and right. “Which way?”

“I came from that direction, so let’s try over here.”

They began to navigate the hallways, finding nothing useful in any of the rooms which were open. When they came across a door that wouldn’t open, they knocked and called out, but heard nothing in reply.

“It stands to reason they’d be kept locked up.” Jack stared at the unresponsive door. Why couldn’t they have at least given him something really helpful along with the instant healing like say, x-ray vision?

“They might not be able to answer. If they’re hurt or gagged…” Daniel didn’t have to finish the thought.

“What I wouldn’t give for a little C4.”

“You do not appear to have anything at present with which to trade, O’Neill. Nor are the inhabitants likely to possess such a commodity.”

“Yahhh!” Jack jumped and whirled to face his errant teammates. “Teal’c, don’t **do** that.”

An eyebrow raised. “Should we not have escaped our confines?”

“Yes, that’s not what I meant… oh never mind. What happened to you two?”

“We got tired of being locked up, sir. I short-circuited my door controls and initiated a search. I found Teal’c right after he neutralized his waiter.”

Daniel adjusted his glasses. “Waiter? How, uh- ?”

“I rendered unconscious the individual who delivered sustenance to my cell.”

“Cool.” Jack noted without surprise the remainder of his team were similarly unarmed. What counted was his kids were alive and together again. The rest would work itself out. “They do anything besides feed you?”

“Held us prisoner and refused to answer our questions, that’s it. Why, sir? Was something more done to you?”

“Oh yeah. Carter, we need to hack into their computer files or something and find out what these folks are up to.”

She looked from him to Daniel, concern evident in her eyes but simply answered his question. “We ran across a couple of labs with computers while we were searching. We could try one of those.”

“Sounds good. Let’s go. We’ll fill you in on the way.”

***

Carter typed another command into the keyboard, and they all watched data scroll across the monitor.

Stopping the text, she pointed at the screen. “This is incredible. Somehow they’ve managed to access the pain gate.”

“Pain gate? What, they couldn’t come up with a happy gate or a have-a-nice-day gate or even a not-too-bad gate?” Jack so did not like the sound of this. “Why do we get all the fun missions?”

“Can we not bury this pain gate, Major Carter?”

“No, Teal’c, this is an internal gate. We all have it. It's the gateway that allows pain signals into the brain. We process the signals and feel them as pain to know we’ve been hurt. It serves as a warning system to prompt us to stop the conditions hurting us, but when that gate gets overloaded, it shuts down which is why when people have really bad injuries their brain sometimes doesn't acknowledge it at first. They may not even realize they’re hurt because they don’t feel it.”

“So you’re saying they could’ve shut down my pain gate, and that’s why I didn’t feel anything when I was attacked by that animal or shot.” Jack scowled. “But that doesn’t explain why Daniel felt it instead.”

Carter continued reading. “It looks like they’ve found a way to transmit the signals from one person’s pain gate to someone else’s pain gate receptors, in this case Daniel’s.”

“You’re telling me my pain’s being gated to Daniel?”

“In simple terms, yes, sir.”

“Great, so when do I start spinning and lighting up?” Behind the automatically sarcastic words, helpless rage flashed through Jack at the thought he was being used as a weapon to hurt Daniel.

“I guess I can see how I could feel something relayed to my brain and along my nerves, kind of like biological radio transmissions, but how could it cause actual cuts and burns?” Daniel leaned closer to the screen to read for himself. “Can they transmit those as well?”

“Yes, think of the process as a complex tens unit, like the ones we can use to run electrical impulses to a patch on the skin to cause muscle movement. This takes that concept much further, causing the receiver physical damage, bruising, and skin separation despite lack of actual trauma, while the sender’s healing is accelerated.”

From his position standing watch by the door, Teal’c observed, “Even a Goa’uld healing device is not capable of such a feat.”

“Cut one, and the other bleeds.” Daniel grimaced. “Literally.”

Jack shivered as the ramifications darted through his mind. If he’d walked through that weapons fire thinking he was impervious, Daniel could’ve died from a fatal shot – or died if he’d stayed underwater holding his breath much longer. He addressed an impatient question to Carter. “What I want to know is, how do we jam their transmissions or whatever we need to do to switch us back to normal?”

“Sir, this is beyond our medical capabilities. Even if we take this data back with us, I doubt Janet can reverse the procedure.”

“Don’t tell me we have to stay like this, Carter. That is not what I wanna hear.” Jack’s voice was hard as he felt his face set in mutinous determination. Somehow they would find a way around this.

“I didn’t say it couldn’t be fixed, sir. Only that we can’t do it.”

“You mean the Rassan can fix us?” Daniel’s voice rose and fell like he was trying to rein in his hope.

“I don’t see why not. They’d need to reroute the signals back the way they were originally.”

“So all we have to do is persuade them to make that change.” Daniel made it sound possible, even reasonable.

“Just like that.” Jack wanted this as much as Daniel did, but he couldn’t help his skeptical tone. “After they drugged us, kidnapped us, and experimented on us without our consent. We don’t even know why they did this in the first place.”

“Because we are desperate, Colonel O’Neill.”

The door slid open to reveal half a dozen men pointing weapons.

Lifting his empty hands to show he carried no arms, Teal’c backed up to join his team by the computer.

Artur entered the room, the other men following. “We regret the necessity which impelled us to deceive you in this manner, but we have no choice.” The man appeared pleasant and polite, as though discussing a minor inconvenience. The only change Jack noticed since they’d last seen him at the dinner and drugging party was that he’d replaced his salmon-hued suit with one of pale butter yellow. Not a hair straggled from place among the dark blond waves, and an air of calm certainty sat on the rounded features.

“That’s what they all say.” Jack glowered at the official, his hands curling instinctively into fists, but he forced them open and held them loose at his sides. They needed these people to undo what they’d done.

“We must continue the test.” It was one of the other men who spoke, tall and slight with light gray eyes and firm conviction in his voice.

“Larin is right.” Artur studied each team member in turn. “You showed remarkable ingenuity in extricating yourselves from confinement to rejoin your companions. We did not anticipate that as we have no experience in these matters. We have learned much, but we must go on to the next step of the test if we are to see how well his process conforms to our hypothesis.”

“So this little switcheroo was your doing?” Jack scrutinized Larin closely. The man looked determined but not malicious. “You don’t look like you get your jollies from torture. Run out of Scooby snacks for your pet bear? Need a fresh target for your shooting gallery?”

Larin appeared genuinely taken aback. “The k’narr beast was not meant to eat you, or we would not have left you the knife to defend yourself. Nor were the weapons fired for sport.”

“Then why?” Daniel’s plea was laden with the intensity of his constant quest for understanding. “Why would you treat visitors this way? What did you mean when you said you were desperate?”

Artur nodded. “You will see once I explain. Many years ago our people fled from their homeland. A civil conflict was escalating to war. We are scholars and scientists, not soldiers. Rather than fight, we chose to leave and make a new start in a new home. However, we have never been easy here. To hide forever is not possible. We have always known someday our enemy would find us. Genetic manipulation is a common practice among our people, so we strove to find a way to transform ourselves to withstand a physical attack.”

“You were trying to design a perfect soldier?” Carter’s scientific curiosity was no doubt intrigued.

“Precisely. By diverting the pain and damage elsewhere, a soldier can continue fighting indefinitely.”

“A plan not without merit.” Teal’c inclined his head. “But for what reason did you select SG-1 for your experiments?”

Daniel’s impassioned question followed up Teal’c’s measured one. “And why secretly, without telling us what you were doing?”

“If we had told you of our research, you would have volunteered to participate?” Artur spread his hands, his expression disbelieving.

“No way in hell.” Jack wanted it made very clear they were not happy with the current state of events.

“As we supposed. Your fortuitous arrival granted us a rare opportunity we could not disregard. Observing the behavior of a trained warrior may prove as vital to our survival as your body’s responses. Now we require you to move on to the next phase of the test – physical combat. You will fight Norbet.”

At a gesture from Artur, one of the men stepped forward, handing his weapon to another. He was a few inches shorter than Jack and appeared in good physical condition but with a look of guarded apprehension in his eyes rather than the challenge usually apparent in someone spoiling for a fight. These people were, after all, self-admitted scholars and not fighters.

Jack folded his arms. “We’re not playing any more of your little games, Artie.”

“This is not a game, Colonel O’Neill. And you will take part in this fight.” He was insistent. “If you stand there and allow Norbet to beat you, it is your comrade who will suffer.”

“Dammit!” Jack bit off the words he wanted to hurl at the unfeeling official and shot a look at Daniel.

Defiant blue eyes gazed bravely back into his. “Your call, Jack.” The tip of Daniel’s tongue flicked nervously over his lower lip. “Either way, it’s okay.”

His friend was giving him permission to do what was best for the team, no matter how much Daniel got hurt in the process. Jack’s stomach twisted at the thought of the punishment he was bound to take in the course of a hand to hand fight. Shit, he was supposed to protect his team, not be the cause of hurting them. Talk about choiceless.

Fine, if he had to do this, at least he’d minimize the hurt as much as he could. Might as well start by getting in the first hit.

Without warning, Jack launched himself at Norbet and tackled him to the ground. Taken off guard, his opponent flailed ineffectively before a wild swing socked him in the eye. Jack’s head snapped back as he heard Daniel yelp.

Sneaking a look, Jack saw his friend cradling his eye.

Taking advantage of his distraction, Norbet jabbed Jack in the gut, sending him swaying backwards.

“Daniel Jackson!”

“Daniel? Let us help him!”

As Jack recovered his balance, he caught a glimpse of the Rassan holding Carter and Teal’c at bay with their leveled weapons while Daniel doubled over, dropping to his knees.

Norbet rolled, swinging a forceful kick to Jack’s ribs.

With a deep groan, Daniel huddled on the floor, curling into a ball.

Daniel could take a few punches, but that kick might have cracked some ribs. Every blow Jack let through his guard was a failure. It was like he was beating Daniel up himself. With an effort, Jack tore his concerned gaze from his hurting teammate. _Focus, O’Neill. You can take out the bad guy and still protect yourself. Get sidetracked worrying, and it’ll only hurt Daniel more. And remember what they say about the best defense._ Scrambling to his feet, Jack closed with Norbet again, seizing the offensive. He followed up a left hook to the jaw with a series of punishing kidney punches.

The man twisted away, then dove for Jack’s legs, yanking them out from under him.

Jack fell hard, wondering how badly that had jarred Daniel. From his own position flat on his back, he rolled his head enough to see Daniel jerk and rock back, shoving his fist into his mouth evidently to keep from crying out. Jack didn’t get it. What difference did it make if he yelled bloody murder? Oh hell, his friend was trying to spare him from hearing how badly he was hurt. _Damn damn damn!_ He had to finish this fast.

Wrestling at close quarters, Jack struggled to avoid being hit again. Finally he locked an arm around Norbet’s neck.

The man butted his head back into Jack’s nose. Although he felt no pain, the impact caused Jack to loosen his hold enough for Norbet to pull his arm down and roll away.

Jack took note of the man’s clumsiness. An experienced fighter would have kept hold of his arm, twisting it to advantage. Despite his handicap of not allowing himself, and thereby Daniel, to get too hurt in the scuffle, Jack had an arsenal of moves to draw on. Picking one, he feinted left, came up under the surprised man’s guard, flipped him onto his back, and landed a scientific right neatly to his temple, knocking his head against the floor.

The man lay still.

Jack whirled and knelt at Daniel’s side. Brushing back the fringe of hair, he laid a hand gently on his forehead. “Daniel, how you doing, buddy?”

“P-peachy.” The sighed response was followed by a cut-off groan.

Jack helped him sit up, supporting his injured friend against his chest. He sensed a flurry of movement around him as Carter and Teal’c joined them, and the Rassan checked on Norbet’s condition. Carter swiped awkwardly at a trickle of blood under Daniel’s nose with her fingers.

“We will take them to our medical treatment area immediately. They will both be well shortly.”

Jack looked up to see Artur standing over them. “What, so you can put him through this all over again? And what are you going to do when your testing’s done, and you’re ready to put this into the field? What poor slobs are you going to force to take the heat for your designer soldiers?”

“Force will not be necessary. As I mentioned, our genetic research is very developed and its applications are widespread. Twins have become the norm in our births. All our altered soldiers will be half of such a pair. There is not a man in our population who would not volunteer to receive his brother’s pain.”

“Your soldiers would agree to put their brothers through that?” It made no sense to Jack how they could do that to someone they were supposed to be fighting to protect.

“They will fight the more fiercely to spare them.”

“You’re wrong. My fighting was hampered because I had to think of how my every move affected Daniel. They’ll be constantly second-guessing themselves. You can’t do that in battle. There’s no time to think. You have to act.”

“And what about afterwards?” Daniel winced and held a hand to his side but continued, “Haven’t you thought about how this will affect your soldiers mentally or emotionally, knowing they were the instruments of their brothers’ suffering? Couldn’t you see what it was doing to Jack?”

Larin looked thoughtfully at Artur. “The purpose of the test is to learn all the consequences.”

The official shook his head sadly. ”We will not be able to fight without the alteration.”

“Well, that’s a crock.” Jack hooked a thumb over his shoulder. “Norbet there fought me.”

“Because he had to. The test required it. The circumstances were extreme.”

Carter said, “I can’t think of any more extreme circumstances than defending your people against attack.”

“Major Carter and Daniel Jackson have shown me that scientists can also be warriors.” Teal’c added his persuasion to the others.

Jack nodded. “You can learn to fight if you have to, the same way Norbet did.”

Artur looked from SG-1 to his men. “Perhaps we should study the possibility.”

“Have you thought there might be another way?” Daniel’s soft voice intervened.

The official looked puzzled. “What other way can there be?”

“You can ask for our help.”

“You would help us fight our enemy?”

“No,” Daniel said, “but we would offer our services to mediate a peaceful settlement. Our diplomats have done that on other worlds to good effect.”

“You would do this for us? After what we have done to you?” Astonishment sounded clearly in Artur’s voice.

“If you put things right with us again, yes, we will. We came here to make allies.” Jack’s answer was sincere. The Raisins made a lousy first impression, but he’d be willing to let bygones be bygones provided they didn’t pull anything like that again. Anyone should be allowed one mistake. He supposed they had good, if misguided, intentions. Of course it was easier for him to forgive their treatment of him than of Daniel. The only reason he was able to get past that was knowing that was what Daniel wanted. Well, that and Hammond’s views on interplanetary incidents if he gave in to his first impulse to tear Artur and Larin limb from limb.

“I do not know if our enemy will listen.”

“You won’t know if you don’t ask.” Daniel’s simple statement received a thoughtful look from the official in response. “You don’t even know if they’re still your enemy. You said it’s been many years since you had contact with them.”

“Perhaps you are right. We will need to discuss this in council.”

“In the meantime, can we get this medical show on the road?” Jack pushed the point, his arms tightening around Daniel.

Blue eyes fluttered shut. With a sigh Daniel dropped his head onto Jack’s shoulder, a clear sign of the security he found there and the faith he placed in Jack’s care.

Fighting the instinct to tighten his arms further in fierce protection, Jack gentled his embrace to provide comfort without aggravating his friend’s wounds.

“Of course. We will repair all injuries and undo the experimental procedure at once.”

“Good. This lab rat routine is not all champagne and cheese, ya know.”

***

Jack’s knee twinged as he hopped down the last step and rounded the corner into the living room. “Ouch.”

“What’s wrong?” Daniel looked up, reaching for the coffee mug Jack handed him.

“Just my knee reminding me I’m back to my old self again.” Flopping onto the couch, Jack took a long swig from his beer bottle, relishing the cold liquid as it flowed down his throat.

“Old is right. Now I know what it’s going to feel like, I’m not sure I want to go there. A few hours with your knees was all I could handle.” A teasing smile played across Daniel’s lips.

“Consider the alternative, Dannyboy.” Jack grinned back, raising his bottle in a mock toast.

“You’ve got a point.” Daniel lifted his mug in return and sipped his coffee, sighing appreciatively. “It’s the little comforts, isn’t it, after a mission like that?”

“Mm.” Jack took another drink, and stared at his bottle intently. He wasn’t sure he was ready to talk about the mission yet, though that was exactly why he’d invited Daniel over.

“Wanna talk about it?”

How did Daniel **do** that? Guy had an uncanny knack for reading Jack’s mind. Though Jack had to admit sometimes it worked the other way around, too. He deflected the question back to Daniel. “Sure. How’re you feeling? Doc gave you a clean bill of health, right? Nothing left over that the Raisins forgot to take care of?”

Daniel gave an impatient shake of his head. “I’m fine. They were very thorough in healing all the physical wounds. It’s the ones we can’t see I’m worried about. Like what you went through, Jack. How are you feeling?”

“Me?” Jack opened his mouth to cover himself with a line of b.s., but a straight look from those blue, clear eyes made him give up that notion. Instead, he spilled the bitter truth. “I cakewalked through this mission without a scratch while a member of my team who I was responsible for suffered serious hurt because of my actions. How do you think I feel?”

“We both know it was the Rassan who hurt me, not you.”

“I played a part. Maybe I could’ve moved faster and avoided that animal’s claws, or slower and not provoked it to attack so soon. I should’ve dodged the weapons fire better. If my actions had been different, it could’ve spared you some pain.”

Daniel’s brows arched above his glasses. “You had no way to know what was going on. You can’t honestly believe anything that happened was your fault.”

“Can’t I? Ultimately it **is** my responsibility as team leader. I know they caused the situation, but it’s my job to keep things like that from happening in the first place.”

“Jack, you do your job better than anyone I know. Part of that’s specifically because of the way you’re feeling right now.”

“Maybe. My post-mission coming to terms with myself generally takes a little time. But can you honestly tell me you don’t resent me even the smallest bit for the pain you endured, knowing it should’ve been me suffering and not you?”

“No! God, no, you have to know I’d take that on for you, any of you, any time I could prevent you being hurt, no matter the circumstances. So would you, or Sam, or Teal’c.”

Jack ran a hand through his hair. “I know.”

Daniel’s voice softened. “Cut one, and the other bleeds.” He gazed earnestly into Jack’s eyes, speaking low and urgently. “That’s true for all four of us and has been for some time now. It doesn’t need to be as literal as the Rassan made it. It’s still real.”

Jack sighed wearily. “Some would say we’re dangerously close. That could be why we have so many problems.”

Daniel smiled. “Or why we solve so many problems.”

“We do have a pretty good track record.” Jack finished his beer. “Okay, I’ll buy your perspective. For tonight at least.” He stood up. “I need another one of these. Let me get you a refill.” Leaning over to collect Daniel’s mug, he barked his shin on the coffee table. “Ow!”

“Ow!” Daniel echoed, rubbing his own shin.

“What?” Jack looked at him in alarm. “Don’t tell me… you’re not… they didn’t…”

“Huh?” Daniel returned his worried gaze. “No, no, it’s just a coincidence, a muscle spasm, a… a joke?” Lips clamped tight over choked laughter as Daniel fought to keep a straight face.

Light dawned, and with it a lightening of Jack’s spirit. Their closeness meant more than just hurting and bleeding together. It also meant sharing the best feelings, too, like laughing together. He figured that was worth a little blood now and then.

“I’ll give you a joke, Dannyboy.” Jack snatched up a cushion from his couch. It’d been way too long since he’d had a good fight… pillow, that is.

THE END


End file.
